Metallic railway-tie.



PATENTED MAY 8, 1906.

L. G. SHARP.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.16,1904

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METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1906.

Application filed December 16, 1904. Serial No. 237,162

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEE 0. SHARP, a citizen of the United States,residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

My invention relates to railway construction, and more particularly tometallic ties therefor.

It is the obj eot thereof to provide a metallic tie for railwayconstruction which shall furnish the requisite strength with the use ofa small amount of material, which shall provide adequate bearing-surfacefor the railflanges, insure contact between the rail and tie over theentire bearing-surface, providea surface equal to that of wooden tiesfor bearing upon the road-bed or ballast, and to provide means integralwith the tie for attaching the rails thereto. I attain these objects bythe construction shown in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1is a perspective view of a portion of railway-track havin my metallicties used therein. Fig. 2 is a p an view of one of the ties. Fig. 3 isan elevation showing at one side a rail secured to the tie by theattaching means thereon and at the other side the position of saidattaching means before receiving the rail, and Fig. 4 is an endelevation of the same.

The tie as shown is an integral metallic body comprising the flat plate1, having the longitudinally-extending rib 2 on the under side of thesame. The depth of the rib 2 is preferably made greater at the middle ofthe tie than at the ends, as shown, this form bringing the greatestresisting moment of the section at the point receiving the greatestbending stress when the tie is in use.

Adjacent to the, ends of the tie at each side of the portions of-theplate 1 forming the railbearing surfaces are the upwardly-extendingtongues 3, the said tongues being adapted to be bent inwardly over theflanges of the rails, as represented in Figs. 1 and 3. The tongues arereferably formed from the plate 1 by disp acement of portions thereof,as by punching, the displaced portions remaining attached to the plateat one side and extending upwardly therefrom. When the tongues areformed in this manner, the same are preferably placed on opposite sidesof the rib 2, as shown, so that the openings 4, from which the materialis displaced to form the tongues, may not interlap.

It is preferred to make the ties from standard rolled-steel T shapes bysuitable cutting and punching operations but the same may be made ofmalleable iron, cast-steel, or other material having suitable malleableproperties. Should the ties be cast in malleable iron or steel, thetongues, may of course be cast in the upturned position, in which eventthe forming of the openings 4 is unnecessary.

It will be noted that by the construction shown the rails have a flatbearing-surface across the entire width of the plate 1, or the flangeportion of the tie-body if the same be regarded as a T-section, and thatby means of the tongues the rails are securely held in engagement withsaid bearing-surface. It will also be observed that the area of theplate 1 may be sufficient to provide ample ground bearing-surface, whilethe rib 2 or stem of the T-section in addition to strengthening thesection serves as an anchor to prevent lateral displacement of the tie.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

A metallic railway-tie comprising a body having a longitudinal rib uponone face, the opposite side of the body forming a rail-bearing surface,and a pair of tongues struck up from said body at each end thereof andintermediate its edges, the tongues of each pair being arranged out ofalinement one with the other for engagement with the base-flange of thecorresponding rail upon opposite sides of the aforesaid rib, thecorresponding rail being disposed over the openings formed by strikingup of the metal to form said tongues.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two witnesses.

LEE 0. SHARP.

Witnesses:

N. S. Reeves, 1?. M. CoNKLIN.

